


drive home

by ryuuzaou



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Dialogue-Only, Gen, i hope u can tell whos talking & when, i think i got their voices down p well but heck u never know, set after mr. greg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-07-25 14:19:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7536160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryuuzaou/pseuds/ryuuzaou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Greg and Pearl talk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	drive home

**Author's Note:**

> i was talkin to rei abt this.... their talk. ... bc like. just think abt it. 14 years for a gem? thats like holding a grudge for a few weeks, max. but for greg? thats like. a 1/3 or so of his life that he thought pearl hated him. the fact that theyre bonding now is just ... im really proud of them

“It seems as though Steven’s already asleep.”

“Are you kidding? Of course he is! He’s slept like a rock in his van since he was a baby!” 

“He lived in this van when he was a baby.”

Light laughter.

“Well, yeah, but we started working on the house really quickly after he—uh, y’know.”

“Yes, we did. I didn’t help with it much, did I? I’m sorry about that.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. You were still upset about Rose. I get that! And I got it then, too. I mean, you weren’t exactly  _ subtle. _ ”

“You hush! You weren’t subtle either! Don’t think we all didn’t hear your ‘You’re the one I want!’ line!”

A gasp. “You heard that? Oh, jeez. Even now, that’s kinda embarrassing. I bet that didn’t earn me any brownie points with you.”

“...Brownie points?”

“Y’know, like, it didn’t make you like me more. Brownie points.”

“A method of keeping score of how much you like a person?”

“I guess?”

“Why are they called brownie points? Are actual brownies involved?”

“I don’t really know the specifics of it?”

A pause. Then, a quiet snicker. “So much of your language is like that.” 

“Human language, or  _ my  _ language?”

“Both, I suppose.” The smile is evident in the tone.

“Wow, and here I thought we were finally bonding a little!”

“Bonding, hm?”

“Yeah. Bonding. I  _ know  _ you know what bonding is.”

“Oh, I do. I just didn’t realize that this was an instance of it.”

“We’re sort of forming a bond now, aren’t we? So, that’s gotta be, y’know, bonding.”

“Taking the literal definition and applying it directly to a situation—and using the word itself, too—is a very poor way of explaining things, Greg.”

“I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m not exactly the best explainer. Er, best at explaining things?”

“I noticed.”

“You didn’t have to clarify that!”

“I know. I was only teasing.”

A choking noise. “Wh—really?”

“You say that like I’m incapable of it!”

“Well, I mean, you haven’t really given me reason to believe you could…” 

A sigh. “That’s fair.”

Silence of speech. The rumble of an engine, the quiet snores of a sleeping boy. 

Then: “Rose would be happy.”

“Huh? About you teasing me?”

“In a way, yes. She’d… she’d be happy we’re… you know. Bonding.”

“Oh.” A pause. “Yeah. I think she would be.”

“I’m… I’m sorry. Again. For back then, when we met. I was terrible to you.”

“It’s fine, Pearl, I promise. You can’t please everyone!” And a muttered addition: “Learned that from Marty.”

“Yes, but… goodness. Especially the day I fused with her in your video. I was rude, and it was uncalled for.”

“You were jealous! Heck, I was jealous of  _ you!  _ Rose was always talking about you, y’know. Man. Rose had so much love in her. I was pretty sure she was in love with you, I mean, at least for a little while. And a little while for you gems is like, hundreds of years for us. Lifetimes.”

“...Thank you for saying that, Greg.”

“I’m serious. I’m not just saying that to make you feel better, Pearl.”

“Do you mind if we change the subject a bit?”

“O-oh, yeah. Sure. Sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“So, uh… oh! Y’know, both Rose and I knew you were spying on us while I tried to, uh, fuse with her.” 

“ _ Ha! _ ” Muffled laughter. “I’m sorry, that was—”

“No, no, it was funny! I laughed, too!”

“Then you started crying.”

“It was an overwhelming moment for me, okay?”

“Okay, Greg.” A pause. “Garnet said, after you finished talking, that it worked. Your fusion. I didn’t understand at the time. I was… frustrated, and annoyed. But after a while, I figured it out. And I was… happy for her, I suppose. Happy for you.”

“You were?”

“I was. You were able to make her happy. I should have been glad, at the time, that someone could, even if it wasn’t me.”

“You did make her happy, Pearl.”

“Not as happy as she was with you.”

“You were with her for thousands of years longer than I was! You made her happy then! Does that not matter, just because I helped make her smile at the end?”

“I—” Abrupt stop. “No. You’re right, it does matter. But you are wrong about one thing.”

“I’m wrong about a lot of things.”

“True. But I meant in that statement, and question.”

“Okay, what?”

“It wasn’t the end.”

The young boy hums in his sleep. A human and a Crystal Gem share a smile.


End file.
